Re: Are any of the #5 Crossbar offices still in service?

Aug 26, 2007 2 Replies


T wrote:


>
>> Interesting history! I'm reading the "Switching Technologies" book right
>> now and I seem to recall that Bell experimented with common control for
>> things like SxS and even better CC for #1 and #5 Crossbars.
>
>I can only speak to the history of Pacific Telephone. In the Los
>Angeles area they had a whole bunch of both urban and suburban steppers.
> Bell Labs/Western Electric could never get common control to work for
>steppers. So, they installed a crossbar switch in each C.O. to handle
>the common control requirements for regional toll and nationwide direct
>dialing. Those crossbars were also growth end-office machines.

I was a Switchman in one of those offices in the late 60's. Wilmington CA


[snip]

In that era Pasadena had a giant stepper serving almost all of the area, with one small XBAR unit doing the toll and seving only one office code. I believe the XBAR was installed in time for the cut to nationwide direct dialing (1959 or so?)

So Roy... Spin us a yarn or two about the good or the bad days, the really interesting things or the really dumb things that happened during your time with steppers or crossbar...

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